Rewind a week ago. I had just woke up and was only a few hours away from getting ready for the Superbowl. I spent the morning in the kitchen blasting some 80s favorites and doing the mandatory grabbing of the spoon and lip syncing in front of the mirror. Pure 80s styles. Then it hit me. Maybe I should do an all-80s retro mixtape. Educate the kids. I sat down in front of my computer and thought of the playlist. It hit me. I don't have Whitney Houston songs in my catalog. You can't do an 80s mixtape without a couple of Whitney joints. Me thinking of Houston lead me to wondering what the diva was up to.Did a quick search. TMZ posted a video of her at a couple of industry type parties. She looked good. Happy. The superstar she was. I read that she was in the works of doing a new movie where she'll be fronting the soundtrack. Good for her, I thought. The diva is back. I was happy that she was back on the right track. I was happy for her. My day went on. Ate chips. The Giants won. Didn't think of Whitney again.
Till last night.
The first thing I did when I heard the news was to get on Youtube and cued up I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Turned it from the Leaf game to CNN. The news had just broke. The coverage has started. Watching the breaking news while I Wanna Dance in the background. Standing in front of the television watching pictures roll while they were talking about how she was found at the Bev Hills Hilton, I started bumping my head back and forth. Feet moving. Knees getting loose. It wan't long until I was in full blown Whitney Houston karaoke. I grabbed a nearby pen and started to belt out the lyrics to the vintage track.
For the rest of the night, I watched the CNN coverage. Houston friends, co-workers, weighing in on what a great talent the singer was. Showing some old clips of the diva singing. They spoke of The Bodyguard, the albums, and of course her run with Bobby. All the while, I had different Whitney songs humming in my head. Like a mental IPod on Shuffle. Tapping my feat on the couch. Smiling inside. Stories connected to the songs. Greatest Love of All was my Grade 6 graduation song. Remember rehearsing that song every single day for two weeks. Tired of the track by the end of the day, I would get picked up my parents. Get into the car and have the song playing. Again. On every station at least twice during the ride home. I knew that song inside and out. I dreamed that song in the spring of '89. To this day, when I think Whitney, I think of those days. And I'm sure many people who are over the age of 30 would have a similar memory.
I'm happy that I think of those days about Whitney. Her voice a work of art. Her charisma on stage. Her aura. This is how I will remember her. This is how I want to remember her. Block out the other stuff. She was already great before all that stuff. Her greatness overrules the other stuff. The other stuff that's not worth mentioning.
I'll continue to tap my feet to you Whitney and re-live the memories.
Damn. Whitney is gone.
For the rest of the night, I watched the CNN coverage. Houston friends, co-workers, weighing in on what a great talent the singer was. Showing some old clips of the diva singing. They spoke of The Bodyguard, the albums, and of course her run with Bobby. All the while, I had different Whitney songs humming in my head. Like a mental IPod on Shuffle. Tapping my feat on the couch. Smiling inside. Stories connected to the songs. Greatest Love of All was my Grade 6 graduation song. Remember rehearsing that song every single day for two weeks. Tired of the track by the end of the day, I would get picked up my parents. Get into the car and have the song playing. Again. On every station at least twice during the ride home. I knew that song inside and out. I dreamed that song in the spring of '89. To this day, when I think Whitney, I think of those days. And I'm sure many people who are over the age of 30 would have a similar memory.
I'm happy that I think of those days about Whitney. Her voice a work of art. Her charisma on stage. Her aura. This is how I will remember her. This is how I want to remember her. Block out the other stuff. She was already great before all that stuff. Her greatness overrules the other stuff. The other stuff that's not worth mentioning.
I'll continue to tap my feet to you Whitney and re-live the memories.
Damn. Whitney is gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment